In a digital camera, for example, a semiconductor device with an AFE (Analog Front End) circuit is applied to process an analog signal of an image that has received light at a solid-state image sensing element or the like. In this analog front end circuit, parallel plate-shaped MIM (Metal Insulator Metal) capacitors are formed to convert the analog signal into a digital signal.
In the parallel plate-shaped MIM capacitors, a plurality of plate-shaped upper electrodes are formed on a plate-shaped lower electrode with a dielectric film being interposed therebetween. A guard ring is arranged between one of the upper electrodes and another upper electrode that are adjacent to each other in such a manner as to surround a periphery of the individual upper electrodes.
Patent documents 1 and 2 are mentioned as examples of documents that disclose semiconductor devices with such MIM capacitors.